Carriage-shift mechanism for typewriting machines



Jan. 6, 1931. E L 1,787,574

CARRIAGE SHIFT MECHANISM FOR THEwRITIuwIucHINEs Filed Feb. 27, 1925 Patented Jan, 6, 1931 UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE MAX GABIBELL, or cnIoAeo, ILLInoIs, ASSIGNOR TO VICTOR ADDING MACHINE commum, on CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS CARRIAGE-SHIFT MECHANISM FOR TYPEWRITING MACHINES Application filed February 27, 1925. 'SeIial No.'11,957.

This invention relates, generally, to typewriting machines, but particularly to a carriage shift mechanism for such machines,- and it consists in certain peculiarities of the construction, novel arrangement and combination of the various parts thereof as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and specifically claimed.

Broadly speaking, the main object of this invention is, the provision of a new, simple, eflieient and improved means for shifting the position of the carriage of a typewriting machine, and particularly that of a portable type thereof, with respect to the type char-' acters carried by the type bars of themachine; that is to say, to so shift the carriage as to properly place the platen which it carries, in writing orprinting position for co operation with either the small type letters or characters or the capital type letters, or large characters, which, as is well known, are carried in pairs,- one in front of another on each type bar.

Another object of the invention is the pro vision of means for carrying out the above mentioned operation in such a way that the movements of the carriage will be more easily and accurately effected and with less strain to the fingers of the operator than has heretofore generally been accomplished, and besides, in such a manner, that the relative movements of the carriage and the platen with respect to the type of the type bars, shall be of a rocking character, from and chine, or in other words, so that the surface of the-platen will describe an arc of a circle transversely to the direction of the movement of the.type bars, in contradistinction to the vertical and horizontal movements of the carriages and platens heretofore commonly employed. Still another object is the provision of means for the minute and accurate regulation or adjustment of the strokes or back and forth movements of the carriage, to the end, that the pivot point of the carriage, the platen shaft, and the printing points of the surface of the platen will truly align.

A still further objectis to so construct and towards the key board or front of the ma-l;

arrange the parts of the mechanism that either of two shift key levers may be employed to actuate the carriage without interference or actuation of the other of said levers.

. The invention has as a further object, to reduce and simplify the number of the parts .i-llustrated,it being understood that modifications and changes may be resorted towithout a departure from the spirit of the invention, so long as they fall within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is an inside view in elevation of one of the side walls of a frame of a typewriting machine, showing parts in section and illustrating a carriage shift mechanism constructed according to the invention mounted thereon; and

Fig. 2 is a part top plan view showing the carriage supporting mechanism of the machine shown in Fig. 1.

It will be understood that in the drawing, only such parts as are concerned with the control and actuation of the carriage and the platen of the machine are shot. a, other parts which co-operate therewith in a manner well understood in the art, being omitted. The embodiment of the invention herewith shown comprises a substantially rectangular frame, designated as a whole by the numeral 5, which has at each of its sides a vertically disposed wall 6 which unite the end portions of the frame.

Secured to the inner surface of each' of the walls 6 at its rear end is a bearing plate 7 which has at its rear edge an upright. flange 8 which is extended inwardl from the late 7 and has its upper end ormed wit an overhanging extension 9 lying in a horizontal plane near the upper edge of the plate 7 and its lower end apertured to receive a fastening element 10 such as a screw used to connect said flange-to the rear end portion 11 of the frame. Each of the bearing plates 7 is provided in its lower front portion with a bearing opening for the, reception and retention of a shaft 12 which is transversely disposed with respect to the sides ofthe frame of the machine and is employed for the support near each of its ends of a carriage supporting bracket 13 each of which is of what'maybe termed a double bell crank lever type; that is to say, each of the upwardly extended portions of each bracket13 is provided. at

its lower portion with a rearwardly extended arm 14 located directly beneath the extension 9 of the flange 8 of the bearing plate 7 adjacent the outer surface of the bracket. 13, and has on its front portion a forwardly extended arm 1411 which is provided at its free end with a flat faced rest 15 the face of which rest is presented downwardly and is for co-operation with the lip-turned and rounded rear end. 16 of a shift key lever 17 fulcrumed on a rod 18 near the inner surface of the side wall 6 of the frame and extended longitudinally along said wall at one side of the key board in the usual or well known way.

The upper surface of the arm 14a is by preference flat as shown, and islocated direct.-

ly beneath a .rearwardly disposed overhang- *mg part 19 of a bracket 20 secured to the wall 7 1n front of the arm 14 of the carriage sup orting bracket 13, as is clearly shown in t e drawings. Each of'the extensions 9 and 194's provided with a vertical openin for engagement with adjusting screws 21 an 22 used for regulating the strokes or movements of the brackets 13 on-the upper ends of which is mounted and secured transversely each of itsends y an upwa with r ect to the machine frame the fixed rail 23 o the carriage whichis'designated as a whole b the numera1'24 and may be equipped or longitudinal movement with respect to said rail with any, suitable elementsor means, which, as they formno part of the present invention, will not'be described. Each end of the carriage 24 is provided with an upright'bracket 25 between and in which laten' shaft the V nal in .a well known way. fulcrum 18 isby reference 26 of theplaten 27 i's'jourm or su po near 7 1 extended and apertured arm 28 of a'channel bar 29 securedat its ends tocthe sidesof the frame and for the purpose of afiording a 'de' for the lever 17 nearits-fulcrum,.sai 'arm 28 is provided with a vertical slot30 in which,

the lever 17 is positioned. y

1 For the further guidance the shift key 'tically disposed teeth of said comb. At A Icross-bar 34. an

their free e .lever 17 a comb 31 is transversely mountedon and between the sides 6 of the frame in such a way that the said lever will extend through the space between two of the versuitable lpoint forwardly of its fulcrum the lever 17 as connected 'to its lower portion or to a downward extension 32 thereon one end of a spring 33 the other end of which is connected to a apart of the framesuchas a stabilizing said lever or to reduce to a mini;

mum vibrations or movements" thereof in-.

said spring is employed for cident .to the operation of the key. leversi which operate the type bars. p

In order to lock the shift key lever 17 its depressed osition and so as to holdthe' carriage and t e platen in the proper position for typing'with capital letters or characters, I

a locking lever 35 of the ordinary or any well known construction is mounted on the p 1 shift lever 17 near-its key 36 to co-operate with an upright catch 37 .mounted at. a suitable point on the frame of the machine and in the usual orwell known way.

Connected at one of its ends to the-upper portion of each of the carriage brackets 13 -1s a spring 38* the other end ofwh'ich is secured to a suitable part of the machine frame and said spring is employed for stabilizing of other parts of the machine than those cooperating with the carriage shift.

. From the foregoing and by reference to the drawings, it-will be readily understood and clearly seen that, assuming the parts to be in the positions. shown by continuous lines, the platen 27 will be in proper-position for using the small type 38'on the t pe bars 39', whic or preventing vibration of the bracket to h which it is connected incident to the operatlon bars are equippgedon their owersurfaces near I I n with a small. type or letter,

and a large type or capital letter-4,0, arrange one in front of the other. The type bars 39' are so arranged that the type members 38 and 40 engage the platen 27 nearthe top' surface thereof. A machine of this type is commonly designated a top-strike machine, as dis.- tinguished from a front-strike machine, in

'which the type members engage the platen substantially in horizontal alignment with the axis thereof. p

"In Fig. 10f the drawings,-a portion of one of the type bars 39 is illustrated, and it'will be understood that when it'is desired to shift the carriage and platen for the purpose of writing with the capital letters or characters 40, all that isnecessary is to-depress the key 36 of the shift lever 17, which operation will elevate the rear end of said lever, which end is 15 of the arm 14", thereby causing the carriagesupporting bracket 13 and the carriage" to be tilted rearwardly to' about the position l as before stated, rounded to provide rolling or movable contact with the face of the rest shown by dotted lines where the carriage, its

- carriage shift, the other shift key be maintained in its normal position by the support, as well as the platen, will be held against further rearward movement by means of the adjustable sto or screw 22 by reason of its engagement with the upper surface of the arm 14?. i As the brackets 13 are for-' wardly' inclined as shown, it is manifest that their forward movements as well as that of the carriage and platen, which they support, will be restricted by the adjustable stop member 21 contacting with the rear arm 14 of each of the brackets. By this arrangement it is apparent that a very simple and eflicient means is provided for regulating the back and forth movements of the carriage support, and besides, it will be noted that each of the brackets 13 will be held in a forwardly inclined position so that when pressure through the shift key lever or levers 17 is removed from the arm or arms 14a of the brackets, the gravity ofthe carriage and its supporting elements will cause the carriage to assume its normal position as shown by continuous lines in the drawing.

By thus tiltably mounting the carriage it is manifest that a very slight downward pressure on the key or keys 36 of the shift lever or levers 17 is all that is required in order to shift the carriage, it being understood that the wei ht of the carriage and the platen will be substantially carried by the carriage support comprising the two brackets 13 and that only the inertia of the parts will have to be overcome to effect the shift, thus relieving the strain on the operators fingers required in the downward pressure of the shift key lever keys in order to lift the considerable weightofthe old style carriages.

By the use of each of the springs 33 it will be understood that, not only the stabilizing effect given to said keys as above mentioned will be attained, but also when one of the shift key levers is depressed to operate the lever will use of the said s ring.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a carriage shift mechanism for typewritin machines, the combination with a main rame, of type carrying bars operatively' mounted thereon, a support tiltably mounted on the frame near points assumed by the type of said bars when in their writing positions, a carriage mounted on said support, adjustable means located'in front and at the rear of said support for cooperation therewith for regulating its back and forth movements, and a shift key lever fulcrumed on said main frame and having at one of its ends movable contact with a portion of said support forwardly of its'pivot.

. 2. 'In a carriage shift mechanism for typewriting machines, the combination with a main frame, of type carrying bars operatively mounted thereon, a support comprising a pair of spaced upwardly extended brackets tiltably mounted on the frame near points assumed by the type of said bars when in their writing positions, a carriage mounted on said support, adjustable means located in front and at the rear of each of said brackets for cooperation therewith for regulatin their back and forth movements, anda shift key lever fulcrumed on said main frame forwardly of each 'of said brackets and rearwardly of points assumed by the type of said bars when in their writing positions, each of said brackets provided with a forwardly extended and rearwardly extended arm, a carriage mounted on said support, adjustable means located above each of said arms of said brackets for co-operation therewith for the purpose of regulating theback and forth movements of the brackets and a shift key lever fulcrumed on said main frame forwardly of said brackets and each having its rear end arranged for movable contact with the lower surface of the front arm of one of said brackets.

4. A carriage shift mechanism for typewriting machines comprising in combination with the machine frame, of type carrying bars operatively mounted thereon, a support comprising an upwardly extended bracket tiltably mounted near one of the side walls of said frame and near the points assumed by the type of said bars when in their writing positions, said bracket provided with a forwardly extended and a rearwardl extended arm, a carriage mounted on sai support, adjustable means located above each of said arms of said bracket for eo-operation therewith for the purpose of regulating the back and forth movement of the bracket, and a shift key lever fulcrumed on said frame near one side thereof and forwardly of said I bracket and having its rear end arranged for movable contact with the lower surface of the front arm of said bracket.

MAX GARBELL. 

